Mike Riendeau Illustration

My name is Mike Riendeau, and I draw quirky monsters that entertain 2000s children with a 1990s art style, to bring a little sunshine into the viewer’s day.

No matter what creative outlet I work in, I invariably end up evoking the cartoons and old 3D video games that I enjoyed as a child growing up in a boring town. Both personally and philosophically, they have played a vital part in the composition of who I am today. Through the medium of digital art, I draw cartoons and quirky monsters that harken back to those days.

My drawings tend to be more geometric and angular, while my designs lean towards the cartoony end of the visual spectrum. This combination can yield unique and interesting results, as they can appear minimalistic and rudimentary, without being outdated.

The work I produce is aimed for use in the fields of children’s book illustration and comics. While drawing is my primary passion, my ultimate goal is to successfully fuse my work with the written word. Like the comic strips that gave me so much hope and energy as a kid, I want to create my own stories that will hopefully do the same for kids growing up today.

At their core, the cartoons and 90’s video games that I loved actually share a very similar overall design philosophy that parallels my own: simplicity. Whether it’s the physical constraints of a four-panel newspaper strip or the memory limitations of a Nintendo 64 cartridge, those boundaries necessitated the mastery of creative and resourceful techniques. In doing so, they accomplished feats of true artistry through minimalism. This is the spirit I wish to evoke in my own work.

With everything I create, I seek to entertain my 10-year old self. I wish to inspire curiosity and wonder in every audience that will listen, the same way my favorite games and stories did.